Leon County Veterans Day Parade Details

The parade will assemble along South Duval Street, south of West Call Street. All entries should check in with the Parade Registration Station at the corner of Duval and Call Streets BEFORE assuming any position along West Call Street, UNLESS you have received an advanced reserved location from Veteran Services Division staff. One knowledgeable representative per entry is sufficient to accomplish the check-in procedure. Tallahassee Police Department and Leon County Sheriff’s Department officers will close access to South Duval Street at 9:00 a.m. Entrant line up along South Duval Street will start as soon as the appropriate streets have been safely blocked. The parade will begin at 11:00 a.m. sharp and proceed south along Adams Street, turning right on Pensacola Street. The parade will turn into the Civic Center parking lot and terminate. Parade units should continue well into the parking lot before stopping in order to avoid congesting the primary parade route.

For more information, please contact the Leon County Veteran Services Division at (850) 606-1940.

From hell in Fallouja to Hell at home-The Veterans days story you MUST read

see and hear. The story, pictures and video of James Blake Miller from the Los Angeles Times:
Another link to the videos (total of 15 mins). You owe to yourself and those that serve.

The last words of the story we should all heed:

Within days of Miller's apparently storybook wedding, Miller disappeared. Miller's wife called on Sinco for help. Shortly after Sinco's arrival, they found Miller with another woman. Miller declared that he had filed for divorce. Miller talked with Sinco about the suicidal thoughts that were consuming him:

I found Miller in a back bedroom at his uncle's house. He told me that he had come close to committing suicide the night before. He had thought about driving his motorcycle off the edge of a mountain road.

He showed me the morning newspaper. His divorce was the lead story.

I felt torn. I didn't want to get involved. I desperately wanted to close the book on Iraq. But if I hadn't taken Miller's picture, this very personal drama wouldn't be front-page news. I felt responsible.

Sometimes, when things get hard to witness, I use my camera as a shield. It creates a space for me to work -- and distance to keep my eyes open and my feelings in check. But Miller had no use for a photojournalist. He needed a helping hand.

I flashed back to the chaos of combat in Fallouja. In the rattle and thunder, brick walls separated me from the world coming to an end. In the tight spaces, we were scared mindless. Everybody dragged deeply on cigarettes.

Above the din, I heard what everybody was thinking: This is the end.

I've never felt so completely alone.

I snapped back to the present, and before I knew it, the words spilled out.

"I have to ask you something, Blake," I said. "If I'd gone down in Fallouja, would you have carried me out?"

"Damn straight," he said, without hesitation.

"OK then," I said. "I think you're wounded pretty badly. I want to help you."

He looked at me for a moment. "All right," he said.Add to Technorati Favorites